Neko, Meet Crow and Vampire

by LittleOne94

Harry discovers Dumbledore's plot with the help of an Imprisoned Sirius. But what happens when he reaches his new School in Japan? What about what he left behind? CreatureFic. Harry X Kyoya X Umehito

2. It's Pink

C2: Hogwarts

"Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it."

- Mark Twain

0-0-0-0

For some reason Petunia had gotten a second wind with the whole summer job idea.

Going to the public library, Harry looked up summer jobs in the paper and on the computer to satisfy her. Now more than ever thankful for the mandatory computer class in primary school. He found plenty of part-time café and catering jobs as well as apprenticeships, but he knew they'd be too busy for what he planned and needed records he just didn't have; like a listed high school. They also required you to have completed a lot of smaller courses in order to even be considered for the position.

Scrolling through the different ads, it took Harry two hours struggling with the computer before he finally came across one that suited his needs.

It was a Library job in one of the smaller London library's. He would be required to work from 12:00am to 11:00pm, which would leave his mornings to himself thankfully, and give him an excuse not to interact with Vernon's whore of a sister. He still remembered catching her letting Ripper…do her. He was very lucky neither had noticed before he'd made a break for it.

At least it had explained her obsession with the ugly things.

After getting the Librarian to print the ad for him for a price, Harry was off back to the Dursley's. Petunia had ordered him to show her what jobs he was going for before he went for them.

She probably didn't want him showing up her Dudders by getting some posh job or contradict what she was telling the neighbors.

Finding Petunia watching one of her soap operas, Harry waited for an ad before speaking; it was never a good idea for him to interrupt the Dursley's when they were watching something.

"Aunt Petunia?" he waited for her to look at him before continuing, "I found a job to apply for." Handing her the paper, Harry waited.

"Why this one?" she couldn't find anything wrong with the job description, and the hours he'd work were at good times for her as the neighbors wouldn't see.

"The others would need me to attend some expensive courses before I would be able to apply."

Petunia frowned as she remembered something one of the new neighbors had mentioned about that; from about the time the women's daughter had been looking for work, something about the employers tightening their standards as the government started enforcing more regulations.

Nodding to herself, she handed the ad back to him before ordering him to apply for it before starting dinner.

A job was a job, and this job got him out of her hair and away from the nosy neighbors.

0-0

In the end and with a little bit of help from the Goblins, he got the job. It hadn't taken him long to learn the ropes of his new gig.

He had already finished cleaning the library and cataloging the returned books a few hours early; right now he was just on standby until a patron came in to borrow or return a book.

But he hadn't been idle these past few weeks.

Rereading his schools books, and transferring all the useful information into a journal while on shift didn't take too long thankfully, as half the books weren't useful anyway thanks to the different authors' opinions on the matter they were writing or full of the history of the subject; most of the books were just gossip anyway. He had found much more reliable information from the books he'd bought from Whimsic Alley thankfully.

After studying his school books, Harry had switched to Muggle books to fill his time and head as boredom kicked in.

Today was no different.

Browsing the muggle textbooks when he'd finished the extra magical defense books he'd ordered, Harry decided to browse the medical section today. When he'd read the list of business his family owned, he found two hospitals and a medical supply company.

Opening a book on clinical microbiology today, it didn't take Harry long to realize it was like one big puzzle, but the goal was to find out what bacteria or fungus was causing what condition for a patient and what to treat it with. He wondered if medical magic was the same? He'd never really paid attention to the how or why of things before now.

He hadn't needed to.

Looking up at a noise just as he finished writing a note about picking up a book on healing magic, Harry spotted an eagle heading for him. The bird didn't even stop, just released its package before flying back out the door.

Opening the letter, Harry found a note and another letter hidden within.

Pick a useful one.

Griptide

Opening the second letter, Harry found a list of courses being offered at the local center during the summer that had notes written beside each one. They weren't long courses from what he could see; some only went for one day! Looking at the courses Gribtide had marked, Harry could see they all taught useful skills.

Picking out the courses he thought he would be able to attend, Harry signed the forms for each class as well as two additional classes on drawing and arts that seemed interesting.

0-0

Entering the community collages classroom a week later, Harry was giddy. Though he had to admit he'd become a bit obsessed with the portraiture book. He knew he wasn't a good enough drawer to do some of the more advanced magic's in the next chapter of the book.

It had started small.

He'd draw a picture, before drawing the rune for Magic, Spirit and Life on the back, watching the drawing suddenly start to come alive.

According to the book, this was a simple bit of 'wandless' magic children normally learned that drew in the ambient magic surrounding the caster or area in order to activate the picture. At first, he just drew a stick figure for his first attempts, before growing bored with that and adding a hat. He was a bit surprised when the stick man began to play with the hat. He'd discovered that the better the drawing, and the more detailed, the better the animation.

So besides his educational pursuits, Harry learned to draw.

But he eventually got to a point where he knew he needed professional instruction to advance any further.

"Mr. Potter"

"Here" raising his hand, the teacher marked him present before continuing on to the next student on the list. They would be learning how to properly shade an object and the different effects lighting had today according to the schedule he had received.

This summer was turning out to be the best time of his life.

0-3rd Year-0

Getting the Knight Bus to drop him two blocks from the station, Harry walked the rest of the way to the platform. He was at the platform two hours early, but that was ok as it meant only nervous muggleborns and first years would be there, and everyone he needed to avoid wouldn't.

Having spent the holidays doing little more than studying and working, Harry was looking forward to using the Hogwarts library. Buying books was all well and good, but books of your own were a luxury he couldn't afford right now until he got his affairs in order.

Finding a compartment deep in Slytherin territory, Harry warded the door the best he could within his first few tries before settling. He'd need to find somewhere to practice when he got to Hogwarts…maybe one of the old towers or a dungeon room? The warding style of casting was different to what he was used to.

Sticking Hedwig's perch to the roof with a sticking charm, Harry pulled out 'Hogwarts a History' before settling in for the long ride. It was surprising how much useful information was actually contained in something that at first glance was a complete waste of time.

Five hours into the journey, the door rattled.

He could hear Hermione and Ron on the other side demanding to be let in -the beauty of a one way silencing ward- when they realized they couldn't open the door even with Hermione's 'advanced' spells they resorted to yelling again. He really didn't want to be stuck with them for the rest of the train ride after what he had discovered. Tuning them out, Harry continued to read the tomb on magical law. It hadn't taken long to read Hogwarts a History thanks to the fact a good portion of the book was taken up by beautiful pictures. But he had to admit Magical Law was confusing with its old fashioned way of saying things.

They soon left to bother the next person.

-Should a Pure-bride be defaced to a Virgin or Impure-bride against her contract by the brides own will her contract may be terminated at the family of the grooms discretion within one Luna cycle of them becoming aware of the indiscretion. But should the bride be debased against her will it is the duty of the Groom to seek retribution in equal measure-

Harry scrunched up his nose in thought. It was like he was missing a big piece of the puzzle with a lot of these laws. Like the Author had just assumed the reader would have knowledge of something so didn't bother elaborating on the terminology.

Time flied as he tried to work this new puzzle out, resulting in a mounting headache.

"We shall be arriving in Hogsmeade station shortly."

Packing his books away and changing into his new Hogwarts uniform, Harry used one of the pureblood household charms to tie his tie into a neat Windsor knot.

Exiting the Hogwarts Express after waiting for the excited younger years to depart first, Harry hurried to a carriage he could see was full of Ravenclaws. When he entered, he discovered they were all 7th years.

"Your studying law?" inquired one of the Ravenclaw's skeptically when he noticed Harry's book. It was well known how lazy he and the Weasley boy were even among the upper years.

Harry nodded, "I am, but it's a bit odd to read, like I'm missing something." Maybe they would know what it is?

The Ravenclaw nodded in understanding, "You're missing knowledge of Magical traditions and terminology no doubt; better known as Pureblood traditions."

"What's that got to do with the laws?" he didn't understand what strutting around like a peacock had to do with anything.

The Ravenclaw sighed in exasperation, "The Lords are the ones who make the law, and they follow wizarding life and culture faithfully. Not muggle like a lot of the muggleborns and half-bloods do these days."

Harry nodded, that did make sense in a way.

"Do you know where I'd be able to find a book on Magical traditions?"

The Ravenclaw's nodded in approval.

"You can find a little in the history section if you read between the lines, but you'll most likely have to visit Knockturn Alley for a proper book on the subject"

"Why Knockturn Alley?"

"The Ministry regulates who buys the better books on the subject heavily. You're normally only able to purchase the books from the mainstream stores if you're undertaking a Mastery in Magical History."

"That's silly though." And odd. Why regulate something that was supposedly common knowledge?

The Ravenclaw shrugged, "That's the Ministry for you. Some of the magic practiced by traditional Purebloods require blood to activate or direct what they're trying to do. The muggleborns are pre-justiced about the use of blood magic."

Nodding his head, Harry realized he hadn't thought about just what the Purebloods actually stood for besides Malfoy.

He knew the muggleborns side, but not the purebloods.

He had been having a lot of these little thoughts since the blocks were removed.

"What's the difference between a Pure-bride, a Virgin-bride and an Impure-bride?"

The Ravenclaws blinked at the strange question, but then assumed it had something to do with the law book as that was the most likely place to find the term outside of a betrothal contract.

"A pure bride is a female or submissive that has been fully untouched in a sexual manner while an impure bride is the opposite. Classifying a virgin bride can be a bit tricky as it would depend on a person's views." Taking a moment to think on the best way to word what he wanted to say, Siam decided he needed to be blunt with the Gryffindor, there was no nice way to say it. "A virgin-bride is normally used to refer to a female or submissive who has engaged in oral sex, but not virginal or anal. It's like the in-between stage of the two extremes."

Conversation was sparse after that as Harry's face flamed, but the Ravenclaws had given him a lot to think about along with his plans for this year. He was grateful he now knew where he needed to start to find the information.

Arriving at the castle, Harry was bombarded as soon as he entered the Great Hall.

"Where were you Harry!" demanded Hermione shrilly, "we looked everywhere for you!"

Harry adopted a sheepish expression, "I fell asleep on the train. Some Raven's woke me up"

Rather than asking him why he was so tired, Hermione merely rolled her eyes before dragging him over to the table. How did he miss that in the past?

Following the normal first day back routine, Harry waited until they were distracted before slipping out under his invisibility cloak.

Knocking on the door to his Head of House's office, Harry waited for her to open the door before entering.

"What can I help you with Mr Potter?" he couldn't have gotten into trouble already could he? Gryffindor being in the negative on the first day would definably please Severus to no end.

"I would like to change my class electives for this year Professor McGonagall." Harry stated bluntly as any true Gryffindor would. He needed to remember to make the change to his true self gradual to avoid suspicion.

Minerva's eyebrow rose at that.

"To what?"

"Runes and Arithmancy"

Minerva was still confused, "What brought all this about? You seemed so determined on your choices before." It was unusual -almost unheard of- for a student to change from sickenly easy electives to quite difficult but more useful ones before even having attended their first class of the year.

Harry shrugged, "I got a job this summer" this surprised McGonagall, as normally the students just went home to laze about during break "When I was looking for one, there were a lot of muggle courses I would have needed to take in order to work at different places based on occupation requirements, and that was just entry level jobs. So I got curious about if wizarding jobs were the same. I discovered these two and Magical Creature studies are the most required for a larger range of jobs." He had discovered thanks to Griptide that those with a high proficiency in runes were the most sort after due to the difficulty of rune magic's practical applications. It was one thing to know how to read the runes, and another thing entirely to be able to write the arrays.

Runes would also help him with his painting.

Minerva nodded as she finally understood, though she was normally having this conversation with the 6th and 7th years when it was too late to change without having to repeat a few years. Pulling out Harry's file, she noted he had just passed the requirements for the two classes. The only question now was did he really want to change; as Harry wouldn't be able to change back after this per Hogwarts regulations. The regulation was put in place to stop students changing their electives at the drop of a hat as they had in the past.

"Are you sure you want to change?" she just needed to make sure, but she thought it was a very good idea for the boy.

"Yes."

Filling out the forms for the class transfers and informing all professors involved via a charmed notepad, Minerva was soon handing Harry Potter his new timetable.

"The professors should be able to loan you a spare textbook until you can owl order your own."

Harry beamed at McGonagall; he now had the perfect excuse to study in the Library and do well at any wards or magic he cast "Thank you professor!" these two new classes would explain many things for those who were too nosy for their own good.

Minerva smiled, "Off to bed with you now; curfews soon."

"Yes Professor!"

Watching Harry leaving her office, Minerva couldn't help thinking she was watching Lily once more. Rising from her chair, Minerva set about gathering her lamp and her over robe before leaving to make her rounds.

She'd give him a little head start.

The blowout over the class change from Ron the next morning had been spectacular and very public.

Just as he had predicted.

The very public falling out gave Harry the perfect excuse to avoid the pair.

0-0

Walking into the Hogwarts Library a week after classes had begun Harry wondered into the Jobs section after he had collected a number of other tombs. Finding the section on Ministry Jobs, Harry browsed until he came across a title that caught his eye; The Ministry: What You Need To Know. Flipping through the book, Harry smiled. While it was brief compared to some of the books on the shelf, it still contained explanations on the Ministry's hierarchy and the role each job played in running the Ministry and what they could legally do.

Leaving the Library -knowing the wards would log the books out for him- Harry made his way to the dungeon room he had claimed for himself. He had originally wanted a tower room so he could watch the clouds, but the Dee and Dum duo had been all too willing to follow him anywhere but into Slytherin territory. While they were easy to ditch, it was much harder to ditch two people then one.

Turning to where he had finished reading last night in his potions book after he had worked up a sweat practicing his spell work, Harry was happy to note he had finally reached the second chapter; covering potions that related to health and enhancements. With how close potions was to cooking he was coming to find the subject was fast becoming one of his favorites…when Snape wasn't teaching the class anyway.

It took him longer to read a book –not because he was a slow reader like Hermione assumed- but because he copied anything he thought was useful or interesting into his own private journals. His potions journal was set out exactly like a cookbook to make it easier for him to understand.

As he was reading, the warning at the bottom of a beauty enhancement potion he was copying caught his attention.

-Caution: when ingested by muggles, over a prolonged period the strain on their body causes the recipient to commonly have a heart attack appearing natural in origin, due to their lack of an active magical core.-

The rest of the text for the potion went into the history of the potion and why it took so long to connect the dots with its dangers to muggles, but Harry was more interested in the warning itself.

He'd discovered thanks to the Magical Law book he had read on the train that while Petunia lived, he couldn't petition the crown to become a Royal ward.

Reading the instructions thoroughly, Harry noted the complicated nature of the brewing process; it was too complicated to make himself at his current skill level, plus he wouldn't be able to keep the short random times the potion required to brew as the potion required constant moderating.

Writing out the name of the potion, Harry made a note to sneak into Hogsmeade to purchase it. Considering the potion wasn't illegal, it should be found in any Apothecary easily enough considering how vain women tended to be.

Casting a tempus, Harry cursed as he realized the time. Packing his bag quickly, Harry ran to history, barely making it before the final bell tolled. Sitting beside Neville, he took out his textbook.

When Ron started throwing parchment balls at him in retaliation for sitting next to Neville, Harry silently cast an Anti-Bully ward around his chair; which would deflect the projectiles by causing them to lose power just before hitting him. It was one of the tamer and subtler variations he'd found in the Library; Ron would probably think he just wasn't throwing them hard enough, which would drive him nuts hopefully.

Letting the professor continue to drone on, Harry re-read the History textbook as he tuned the professor out. The man may have been a good teacher at one point, which Harry doubted, but he was abysmal now.

The book wasn't nearly as dry or repetitive.

Making notes on pages he would need to summaries later into his notebook, Harry was able to read three chapters before the class finished. Knowing Hermione and Ron, they would try to bail him up now that they could move without the professor deducting points, so Harry left in front of a crowd of Slytherin's. he'd found it a bit odd at first, but now that he wasn't hanging around Ron or Hermione the Slytherin's weren't nearly as antagonistic as before, while they still continued to bait Ron, they left him alone.

They weren't nice, but they weren't mean to him either.

Perhaps there was more to the family story then Ron let on?

Trudging quickly to the top of the old tower after the rather trying History of Magic class, Harry was surprised to find someone else already there. He was about to turn and find another tower when he noticed it was Draco. Harry sighed; he'd been meaning to talk to him when they returned to Hogwarts, but he'd been quite chicken over the coming confrontation.

Flopping down beside his cousin, Harry sighed, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He was also curious about how Draco got here before him as well when he'd used the secret passageways to get here.

Draco eyed him wearily.

"You were right." Harry stated bluntly before lying down on the cold stone, gazing out the window tiredly.

Draco's brow rose at that, curiosity wining over his caution for once.

…well, more like his ego.

"What about?"

Harry shrugged, too tired from all his late night studying. "Everything."

They were both quiet for a moment. Draco wasn't too sure what to do, as their confrontations had taken a different turn this year with the disbanding of the Golden Trio, "What happened?"

"I want a vow." Demanded Harry first as he turned his head to look Draco in the eye, "one that'll mean you can't talk to anyone about what I'm about to tell you without permission."

Draco's brow rose again; that was a very Slytherin move, not a Gryffindor one in the least. Giving the common vow all purebloods learn as children, Draco watched as Potter thought his wording over before nodding, satisfied at the parameters. It was a simple enough oath, secure enough to keep the caster quiet but without too harsh a consequence should he break it. Only physical discomfort.

"This summer I got a time delayed letter and package from Sirius Black." Draco's eyes widened, the very man Potter said he got a letter from was also the man who was currently stalking the castle. "From what the Goblin's told me, the letter was written in my blood from when I was a baby, combined with a blood ritual that reset my magic and core."

Draco frowned, "That ritual's only used if you were tampered with." It was common practice in pureblood circles to have two vials of blood extracted just after leaving the hospital, so security measures against tempering with an heir could be made in the event of the parents death. According to what his grandfather had told him before his passing, the tradition had came about after a retainer to an orphaned heir had feed the child mind controlling potions with the aid of a House Elf in order to retain his power in the House of Lords. But not only that...

"Sirius Black's a criminal."

Harry shook his head, "I don't know if Sirius was innocent or not Draco, seeing as he doesn't have any trial transcripts to speak of."

Draco felt as if all the air and blood had been sucked from him. The magic in the courtrooms automatically record a transcript to prove a trial took place. No transcripts meant not trial. A Pureblood Heir didn't receive a trial!?

"Are you sure?!" demanded Draco weakly, not really sure if he wanted to know.

Harry nodded, "I even had the Goblin's look into it thinking I was just looking in the wrong place. But even without the transcripts, the time between Sirius Black's arrest and imprisonment was too short to start with; you need more than an hour to plan and conduct a fair trial" it reminded him so much of the neighbors; convicting him while only hearing his abusers side of the story. It was also suspicious how quickly Sirius had been taken to Azkaban. Like the cell had already been prepared before the incident had even occurred.

"Do you know why I didn't take your hand in our first year?" inquired Harry, changing the subject completely before he got too irritated.

Draco pouted in remembrance of the slight, "No."

Harry smiled, for a Slytherin, Draco sure was expressive. "I was scared." admitted Harry. When Draco went to say something, Harry just shook his head in response, "When we first met in the robe shop, you acted so much like my muggle cousin it terrified me, and Ron..." Harry sighed; it was hard to admit these things out loud to another when he just wanted to forget about it, "I was scared to lose the first person our age that showed me kindness." Even if it turned out to be false in the end, at the time he was so frightened of the attention he was receiving by the adults he latched onto Ron.

No doubt that was just as Dumbledore had planned it.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Uncle Sev was always ranting about Potter's perfect home life. What he was hearing now didn't match with what he knew from his Godfather.

"The version of my life Snape sprouts is nothing but his own deluded imagination." Spat Harry as he read Draco's face, well sick of Snape's stupidity and pettiness to last a lifetime, "A way to justify his own cruelty in terrorizing an orphaned child who can't fight back." Harry took deep breaths, attempting to calm himself as he needed a clear head right now. He didn't understand why he was so affected by Snape, but knew he needed a clear head if he was to succeed in the future.

Maybe it's because he actually knew my parents?

Harry contemplated the thought over as it had just occurred to him. More than anyone else he knew, Snape knew his parents best, even if it was just his Father. Perhaps this was why his opinion mattered so much to him?

Silence fell between the pair until their next class started. Heavy thoughts weighing between them.

0-

Father,

School has been progressing as expected with Zabini and Nott providing relief from the idiocy. I still plan to complete my Mastery in Potions, but am now considering a duel Mastery in another field. Perhaps Runes or Ward Crafting?

The excitement of last year has now been replaced by the fear of the Dementor's. Did you know they attempted to Kiss three students on the train? Per your instructions, I discovered two seventh year pureblood heirs and a Mudblood were targeted. Which reminds me.

It has come to my attention that Uncle Sirius Black may in fact be innocent.

From a reliable source, I discovered no case transcripts exist for a trial. How was this allowed to happen to an Heir? I worry that the Kiss-on-Sight order was issued to silence Uncle Sirius and hide the tracks of the one responsible. Which I suspect was Dumbledore once more pulling the strings of Ministry Officials.

Who's pulling Fudge's strings? Were those attacks preplanned?

The only person I am aware of who would benefit from this is the Headmaster; as both heirs are dark or neutral inclined.

Your Dragon

Sending the missive with his beloved eagle, Draco was agitated. All his life he was taught about Pureblood traditions and the importance of family. When Harry had rejected his hand during their first year -the boy who he was meant to grow up with - he had felt betrayed. Now that his cousin was finally coming around, he didn't want him to do anything stupid to get himself killed or worse. He wouldn't mention Harry's change of heart to his parents just yet though; until he knew his cousin wasn't going to change his mind.

He still remembered how upset his Mother had been when he'd come home for Christmas, after he'd sent the letter informing her and Father about his confrontation with Harry before the sorting feast.

It was why Father was so tart with Potter when they interacted.

Watching his beloved eagle fly off over the Black Lake towards home, Draco wondered what thoughts or actions his letter would inspire.

He needed to plan a way to open Potters eyes before he closed them again.

0-P-0

Taking out his invisibility cloak and wand, Harry threw on his invisibility cloak after applying silencing, aura and smell dampening charms to himself before warding his bed curtains to stay closed.

Harry tucked the Marauder's Map into his pocket before lifting his hood and making his way to stand beside the common room entrance. He had to wait 20 minutes, but eventually a late comer came through the door just before curfew.

Slipping through the door before it closed, Harry quickly left Gryffindor territory.

Checking the map when he landed on each floor as he descended, Harry reckoned he made it to Hogsmeade in good time consider how many times he needed to ditch the cat or Snape. He also really needed to get a holster. He couldn't realistically keep putting his wand in his back pocket because one of these days it'd fall out and he would end up losing it. Or worse, one of these days he'd end up breaking it.

Dropping his cloak and the silencing charm as he reached the end of the village, Harry erected a glamour to match one of the older Gryffindor boys before running to the Apothecary before it closed.

Entering the Apothecary, Harry picked up the beauty potion he was after and its tea variant before stocking up on the ingredients he was low on or needed for one of his future projects. Seeing a self-stirring rod on display, Harry picked one of them up too along with two sets of crystal vials.

"What's a handsome lad like you need a beauty enhancer for?" inquired the man as he rung up Harry's purchases.

Harry shifted in believable, well practiced, embarrassment.

"There's this girl I like" began Harry, a story quickly coming together in him mind "I overheard her talking with her friends in class about how she was almost out of this potion and its tea variant..."

The shopkeeper whistled.

"Pureblood?"

Harry nodded, producing a convincing blush the shopkeeper easily believed. He had plenty of practice acting thanks to where he grew up. He knew only the old and noble houses stilled used the better tasting tea version of potions. Their use fell out of fashion due to the convenience of the faster acting potion variation despite the taste, but they still did the same job.

"Good luck wooing her lad, you'll need it!"

Harry thanked him before leaving, backtracking his way to the castle quickly. Even though he thought the whole situation was a farce, he wasn't too keen on testing Griptide's theory on Sirius Black.

Innocent or not the man was most likely insane by now.

Finding the stone crop he had emerged from last time, Harry hissed for it to Open. In a rolling, fluid motion, the entrance to the stone passageway leading to a blank section of Slytherin wall slid away.

Because he could use this entrance, the trip was cut in half and he made it back to his bed in record time.

It was just a shame the entrance only opened one way.

0-0-0

Entering the small owl version of a post office, Harry made his way up to the counter. Looking up, then down, Harry was amazed the floor wasn't covered in owl poop. There were a lot of owls.

"How can I help you lad?"

"I want to send a package to my family, but by muggle means."

"muggles are they?"

"Yes sir." Looking down shyly, Harry scuffed his feet as he second guessed his decision. Maybe he should have found a muggle post box instead?

The owner took pity on him.

"It's not so unusual a request boy we can do it, but it'll cost an extra sickle for our troubles."

Handing over the carefully wrapped package containing the tea variant of the beauty potion along with his 'letter' and money, Harry paid the man happily before exiting the owlary. He needed to pop into Honeydukes to lay evidence to his story.

The months pasted in a blur, until finally it was a month before summer vacation once more.

Staring down the dog 'hiding' under the bushes by the tree line, Harry tried his best, but he still lost to the smug mutt.

"Don't you ever blink!" Harry demanded, it was the third day in a row now!

The dog simply lolled its tongue out in smugness, savoring his well-earned victory. They'd been doing this for a few days now. He knew the animal was really Sirius Black thanks to the map the twins had given him, but he hadn't reported him as he knew the man could be innocent. The fact he hadn't attacked him despite having ample opportunities led weight to the facts the Goblins currently held.

Staying still and relaxed as the dog wandered from the tree line and past him, heading for the wimping willow, Sirius Black paused halfway to the tree before motioning for Harry to follow.

Following the dog down a hole in the womping willow that he hadn't known about, Harry had to admit he was curious and not too worried about his safety. Though in hind sight he probably should have been, but the ideal of a godfather was too good to pass up. Something he had dreamed of before all hope of rescue had been dashed.

Moving through the winding passageway with his wand lit, Harry wondered if the students or founders made all the school passageways.

Sitting down on the worn mattress in the bedroom the large dog had led him too; Harry watched the dog shift into a man.

"You don't look too good." Commented Harry wirily as he eyed all the skin and bones he could see through the obviously too big -or had once fit- prison garb.

Sirius barked a laugh

"Azkaban does that" Sirius grinned, deliberately failing to mention he had deliberately starved himself before his escape in order to fit through the bars.

As Sirius came and joined him on the bed, Harry calmly listened as Sirius told him about what had really happened that night when he had confronted Peter and why he had gone after him in the first place. But despite the argument being valid for changing secret keepers, there was just one thing he didn't understand in the whole story.

"Why Peter? Why not Remus?" from the way Sirius told it, Peter was already pretty shifty back then.

Sirius sighed as he sat beside his Godson on the old broken bed, "As much as your father liked to think he was accepting of Remus's werewolf status, he wasn't." Sirius hated to admit this, but he couldn't deny some of the looks James had sent Remus when he thought no one was watching, "Despite your grandmother being just as Dark as the rest of our family, the Dark nature only showed when she was dealing with an enemy; she was like James in that respect…or he was like her." Sirius amended in an afterthought, "Because of this James grew up with the Light's opinion that all intelligent magical creatures are evil, or just need to be properly trained or used. The weak human wizard over the dark creature was an obvious choice to James." Sirius mouth twisted in a sneer, "But just look where that mindset landed him!"

Harry was quiet for a time as he leaned into Sirius and thought through what he had learned. He knew they didn't have much time left thanks to the Map he 'nicked' from the twins showing two Professors entering the start of the tunnel they had just gone through. Looking at Sirius's emancipated form, Harry thought fast as he made his decision; Sirius was the one who'd started him on his path to freedom after all.

He owed him.

"Dobby!"

"What can Dobby be doing for Mr Harry Potter Sir?" inquired Dobby happily as he stared at his Great-Harry-Potter-Sir. Harry withheld a grimace at the title.

"Please take Mr Sirius Black to one of the Black residences in Switzerland" Ordered Harry calmly as he stared at the little elf, "I want you to look after him and help him, but do not let him return to Britain until I say so. Please make it so only me, you and GripTide are able to contact him"

"Yes Mr Harry Potter Sir!"

Glad Dobby hadn't started on a tangent, which would have allowed Sirius to regain his wits, he watched Dobby leave with a reluctant Sirius. Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"POTTER!"

Only to choke on it

Turning as if he were about to face a werewolf, Harry found Snape and Professor Lupin standing in the doorway. He noticed them search the room discreetly before their eyes landed back on him.

"What are you doing out of bed at this late hour Harry?" inquired Professor Lupin blandly; able to smell that Sirius had been in the room.

Harry shifted nervously. When in a fix, deny, deny, deny or Lie.

"I just wanted to get some chocolate from Hogsmeade."

He knew they didn't believe him considering the exit was one floor down, but he also knew Snape knew he wasn't gonna squeal about what he was really up too after all the times he'd caught him with the traitors.

It was a familiar dance.

"Detention for a month and 100 points, Mr Potter." Intoned Snape darkly, hoping to catch a clue in Harry's expression, to show Dumbledore no doubt.

Too bad Harry had a perfect poker face when he didn't like you.

Harry scowled as expected, "Yes Sir."

Letting professor Lupin lead him through the tunnel system back to Hogwarts, Harry was curious about how the professors had found him so quickly. As far as he was aware thanks to the cobwebs, this tunnel hadn't been used for a least a decade. Ducking a fallen beam, Harry made a mental note to ask GripTide about it these holidays when he went to collect more books.

Being led to the Headmasters office, Harry thought fast as Snape spoke with Dumbledore before the man turned to him.

"Severus informs me he and professor Lupin found you in the shrieking shack my boy."

Harry shrugged as he hung his head

"Care to tell me why you would do so under these dire circumstances?"

"I wanted some sweets sir." Mumbled Harry dejectedly, "My muggle relatives wouldn't sign the slip for me, and McGonagall wouldn't give permission, so I can't go" officially. He knew his uncle wouldn't touch the slip let alone sign it, and McGonagall had proven in first year with the stone that she was Dumbledore's pet bitch. It was a waste of time.

Dumbledore nodded as if he'd heard his own gospel and believed every word, "It's late and past curfew. Professor Lupin will escort you back to Gryffindor tower. I would advise not making any more trips to Hogsmeade until your guardians give their permission my boy."

"Yes sir." Standing, Harry left quickly with professor Lupin. Ignoring the pointed looks the professor was sending him and Snape's sneer as they descended the stairs.

"Harry?" inquired Lupin as they neared the portrait; Harry could feel the man's eyes on him.

"Yes Professor?" it was always best to humor the man. Watching the professor's location using the man's shadow, Harry gave the illusion of looking straight ahead while keeping an eye on the professor.

"…"

Always the coward, Harry mused. From what he could gleam about the man's past, by reading between the lines of the stories he'd been told about his father, Lupin had stood by while his friends bullied another student cruelly. It was always James this, or Sirius that with an occasional mention of Peter. He was able to discern the cruelty by the fact most of the pranks…the results were malicious.

Arriving at the Fat Lady's portrait, Harry quickly gave the password before professor Lupin could regain some of the courage his house was known for.

"Prostration. Good night professor."

Stepping through into the commons, Harry privately thought this month's password was a silent dig at the professors by one of the more intelligent of the prefects.

The question was had they caught on yet.

Ascending the stairs to the boys dorms, Harry hoped Dobby and Sirius had made it safely there. Looking out the window at the sky, Harry saw tomorrow was going to be a full moon.

Pulling the curtains closed, Harry made sure to erect privacy and silencing wards before relaxing.

"Dobby"

"Harry Potter Sir!"

"Hello Dobby, how is Sirius? Did you guys make it?"

"You doggy be safe Harry Potter Sir! Dobby take good care of him!" Dobby frowned, "Though Dobby had to make sure he no running away. While Dobby understands Doggy want to be with Harry Potter Sir, it not safe for Harry Potter's Doggy at Hogywarts."

Blinking, it took Harry's head a moment to process Dobby's broken English. It sounded like Sirius had tried to Apparite or Floo back to Hogwarts before Dobby had stopped him.

"Thank you for stopping Sirius Dobby" Harry smiled at Dobby "There are a lot of bad people looking for Sirius right now"

Dobby's eyes widened, "Who?"

"The Minister of Magic and Dumbledore are the big ones I know about, but there could be more." like Barty Crouch Sr.

Dobby's eyes widened even more, "Bumble Bee!?"

Harry nodded, "he locked Sirius up so he could hurt me. I only found out this summer when I was finally able to meet the Goblins."

Seeing Dobby was about to leave and confront Dumbledore, Harry stopped him. "Dobby, I don't know what they did to Sirius, can you also protect him from himself? Make sure he eats and doesn't try to hurt himself or come back to Britain? He needs to be kept a secret so they can't hurt him anymore, as well as the fact we're helping him"

Dobby nodded, a very determined look on his small face. "Dobby will help protect Master Harry Potter's Doggy!"

If some of Dumbledore's socks went missing in the Come n' Go Room, it wasn't Dobby's fault.

0-Summer 3rd Year-0

"Boy! Come Make Dinner!" screeched Petunia before returning to watching her Soap Operas.

Flinching, Harry quickly slipped the unbreakable potion bottle into the pocket of the oversized hand-me-down he currently wore, before running quickly to the kitchen; Petunia had made him call in sick when Vernon's latest round of bruises were too visible for her liking.

More like incriminating.

Slipping the concentrated potion into their food, Harry mixed it calmly into the gravy and stuffing his so called relatives loved. As he stirred, it was like a weight was lifted from his shoulders; the knowledge that the constant fear he lived with in this house had an end was beyond liberating. The potion he was using would kill them slowly over the coming year so that they died before next summer. If not he'd simply give them a stronger dose next time. He'd arranged a tea version of the potion to be delivered via muggle mail every three months as 'gifts' with a well-known muggle beauty label on the packaging.

Setting the table while the chicken browned, Harry risked a quick glance into the lounge room. Petunia was still ugly, but her skin had become blemish free since the last time he saw her.

Checking on the different dishes, removing the chicken from the oven Harry moved it to a more ornate dish before he left it to rest in the middle of the table.

Waiting for an ad in the tv show, Harry informed Petunia dinner had been prepared.

Returning to his room, Harry found a roll of parchment waiting for him.

0-G-0

Entering GripTide's new office the next day, the parchment that had acted as a portkey clutched in hand, Harry got right down to business describing what had happened at the end of the year with the professors. It had made him twice as paranoid for the rest of the year.

Griptide frowned.

"Show me the map" looking the map over, Griptide noted the runes and linked charm wards used in the second layer; the map was keyed into a set of sentient wards. Most likely Hogwarts if what Heir Potter said was true. "Dumbledore probably has his own version of the map" it was the most likely conclusion he could think of. He could tell by the different signatures that at least three wizards made this while a forth was keyed in. it was likely that the original makers of the map had made other copies.

Harry relaxed; he'd been worried Dumbledore had managed to get a tracker on him that even Goblin magic couldn't detect.

Griptide pushed three filing boxes towards him like the old detectives used, which Harry stared at with trepidation.

Griptide pointed to the first two, "your Audit results" pointing to the last one "the Audit results for your enemies."

Looking at the first folder from the second box that was some kind of bank summary, he learnt that besides the odd expensive foods and knickknack, Hermione had spent most of the money on books and a scary amount on beauty products, while Ron had mostly used a small amount for food during the summer. No doubt Molly wasn't letting him spend it just yet because of the fact Harry was meant to be visiting occasionally during the summer. Half of Dumbledore's expenses seemed to go into bribes, while the rest was books and muggle candy and some bird club.

Placing the folder on the table, Harry sat back as he considered the next matter at hand; he could read the files more fully later.

"How would I be able to get around someone detecting I used magic?"

"While in magical area's you'll be able to use magic anyway so long as you don't use your wand. As your signature will be masked by the adults around you"

"How are they able to tell?"

"Wards are set up by the ministry around known Muggleborn houses to detect magical pulses, but once they reach Hogwarts age the ward is normally removed as your wand has the trace, which will alert them if it is used outside of the school wards."

It suddenly dawned on Harry, "Draco can use his magic all year round?!" no wonder the Slytherin's knew so many curses in their first year! All they would have to do is use their parents wand or get a secondary wand!

Griptide nodded.

Pouting, Harry sighed after a moment. "What are my options?"

Griptide shrugged, "Not much. If you had fine control of your magic, you could use wandless for little things without setting off the ward that is no doubt still active, or you could stay in a magical household." Griptide waved his hand lazily, "either way you'd still need the later to gain the control necessary for the former."

Harry sighed, before a thought suddenly occurred to him, "Why can I still become Lord Black if Sirius is still alive?"

"Mr Black entered Azkaban without becoming Lord Black first. Because of this, the title remained dormant for over a decade. Resulting in it being able to be claimed by you, the secondary heir, as Mr Black's appointed heir before his imprisonment." Griptide flipped through some parchment, "If you hadn't claimed it within this decade, the next in line would be Heir Malfoy." Dismissed Griptide easily.

"None of this was written in any of the Lord or Heir tombs in my vault." Accused Harry, was it a new thing?

"That's because the information is kept 'in house' in order to protect the Lords and their family from kin slayers. The Lords and their Heirs know as well as Gringotts."

Handing Griptide his lists on businesses and charities he wanted to start, Harry waited as Griptide read the information over.

"I will manage your business until you graduate, but I still expect you to keep up with the business reports and learn about each field of business your companies fall under alongside your other studies. Have you given any thought as to what country you will have your main office in?"

Harry nodded his understanding, by Griptide managing his business; he'd have time to learn how to manage them properly. "I was thinking Australia, Denmark or Canada. I definable want either Australia or Canada for the medical business though." their higher standards for their medical fields should elevate his own. He'd just need to get it set up there, before rotating the technicians and doctors through the hospitals in order to requalify them to a higher level.

Griptide nodded as he wrote it down. "I need you to learn another language, preferably Japanese or Chinese."

"Why?" he wasn't adverse to it, as he enjoyed learning in general, he was just curious.

"It will make concealing you until you're coming of age easier." Griptide sighed in annoyance, but was well used to the Potter Heir's curiosity by now to be offended. "The school we've found is also in Japan."

"What's it like?" he didn't know very much about other countries, he doubted he could even show someone where Japan was on a map.

"It mainly caters to rich muggles and magical creatures. Their privacy is higher than the other schools we had considered, and the level of education is sufficient for what we require."

Extracting the schools brochure from his file, Griptide slid it across to the Potter Heir.

Reading the information the brochure presented, there were a lot a flowery imagery shown of courtyards and classrooms on each page. From what he could see, the school was designed for the rich or old families to remain well connected in future generations with each other, while still allowing the top of the top to enter on a scholarship with their marks alone. From what he could see, he fell into both the rich and old category.

He knew his lack of muggle education would have been a factor in the Goblins search. And this was a school where money alone could get him in.

"How are the plans going?" he knew the Goblins were the ones organizing all the little things, such as where he'll live and his paperwork on both the magical and muggle side.

"We have hit a few bumps where the muggle side is concerned, but they are easily being smoothened over. How goes your studies?"

"I'm on the sixth and seventh year material now." They were able to take so long with everything because they couldn't actually move until he'd passed his NEWTs. "I've been studying Occlumency to help me retain everything"

Griptide nodded, before shooing him out now that business was concluded as far as it could at present.

Harry rather thought Griptide acted like an old granny at times.

Exiting Gringotts into Whimsic Alley after activating the glamour, Harry found the trunk shop Hagrid had taken him too in first year. It wasn't the highest end, but neither was it a second hand store by any means. As much as he loved his current trunk, after this year he'd learned he needed something to keep his things extra hidden with more enchantments.

Entering the shop, Harry actually took the time to look around. Reading some of the charms included on some of the merchandise labels, Harry was impressed now that he understood the charms effects. It was one thing learning about something and another seeing it in its practical form, now that he knew where to look.

Last time he had got his trunk he been a bit dazzled, but now he actually knew what to look for.

Reading the tag for a small grey-green backpack, Harry liked what he saw.

Feather light, expansion charms, water, fire and theft proof. Stain repelling, cushioning charms and tri-compartmented. Magic activated Shrinkage charm.

He would be able to have one section for his books, one for snacks/odds or his art supplies and another for his equipment. Picking up the backpack, Harry continued on to the actual trunk section. Browsing, Harry bypassed all the school trunks and made his way into the compartmented section until finally a beautifully carved item caught his attention.

Looking to the trunk the boy wanted, James saw it was one of his best works; a very old but elegant design, walnut with polished silver and gold fittings and inlay.

"Would you like the collar option?"

Harry looked up startled. "Collar option?"

"You have the option of weather you want the trunk to be able to shrink and attach onto a choker or chain with the higher end products."

"What would you recommend?"

The shopkeeper squinted at Harry, trying to decide, before looking back at his stock as he thought the matter over.

"Choker's are normally worn by girls, Auror's and healers in order to keep their hands and vision free." Returning to his counter, James pulled out one of the designs he'd been fiddling with. It was a chain that looped once around the neck like a choker before falling an inch below on the second loop. Showing the customer the chain on a display neck, he saw the light of want light the boy's eyes.

"I would like to have the full Potter and Black house crest as well as Hadrian P Black engraved into the wood."

James eyes widened in shock, but he kept his tongue in time. Nodding -because he couldn't trust his voice- James lifted the trunk up onto his work station before pushing the book with the optional spells towards Heir Potter. Taking the hint, the boy picked the book up and started leafing through while he worked.

"I want the multiple compartment option; two book compartments, a compartment for clothes, one for objects, food and a bedroom/bathroom compartment." Harry flipped the pages of the book, "I want the same enchantments as the backpack but I also want full/stronger Anti-Theft, Privacy, indestructible and Security enchantments. I want the shrink command to be verbal, but also requiring my magical signature."

James blinked. 7 compartments plus full enchantments. It would make him useless for the rest of the day and tomorrow. He would also need to add a small magic siphon rune in order to keep the enchantments running.

But for Harry Potter, he would do it!

"It'll take me a while to set the enchantments and inscriptions. Would you mind coming back at the end of the day to pick it up?"

"That's fine. Do you mind me taking the backpack now? I want to use it to carry the rest of my shopping."

"That's fine." James shrugged, "Do you want to pay now or once you see the finished product?"

"I'm happy to pay now if you want"

Leaving the store 1000 gallons lighter, Harry's eyes lit up when he saw Quality Quidditch Supplies with a much smaller crowd then when he had to buy his school supplies.

Entering Quality Quidditch Supplies Harry located the section where they sold Quidditch kits; it basically just contained the balls such as the Quaffles, Bludgers and Snitch. Picking up a set as well as a set of reinforced gloves and insulated summer and winter robes, Harry had the Owner set about personalizing the equipment with his initials and the Potter and Black crest colours. Wandering the isles again while he waited, this time the book section, Harry picked up Quidditch Through the Ages, self-updating version, How to; Service and Repairs and the Basic to Advanced Quidditch Techniques collection. There were plenty of other books available, but he felt these would be the most useful to him at his current level. With these he'd learn some new techniques as well as how to look after all his new equipment. The history book would help fill him in with the background history the magical raised kids already knew. Hopefully one of the books would have some spells he could try.

Paying for everything and placing it in his new backpack, Harry wondered to Twilfitt and Tatting's.

"Mia! You open?" called Harry cheekily as he walked through the door.

"No need to yell!"

Following her voice with a laugh, Harry was surprised to spot Draco and his mother standing with Mia being fitted for what looked to be dress robes.

"Hey Dray, Mrs Malfoy." Slinging his arm around Draco, Harry leaned easily on his larger cousins shoulder as Mia worked.

"Say Mia, you know you love me right?"

Mia sighed, "What did you do?"

Harry shrugged with a lazy grin, "Old Bumbles overpowered your anti-tracking, monitoring and tempering charms."

"What!"

Snatching the bag he held out, Mia was bewildered to find her stitches had been cleanly burn away and all clothes in the bag contained a foreign magical signature.

Mia scowled.

NO ONE RUINED HER HARD WORK AND GOT AWAY WITH IT!

Looking at the robe Draco had tried on; Harry admitted it was nice for a wizard robe, but done nothing for him personally.

"You should go more with the eastern robe designs. It'd look a lot better on you by a mile."

Draco sighed, as if asking for patience.

"Kimono then"

"No."

"Yukata"

"No"

"Cheongsam?"

Narcissa coughed in shock. Wondering if Heir Potter knew Kimono's were the eastern robes worm by the oriental women. Looking to the women in question, Narcissa mused, knowing Mia and her love of BL, probably not. She was surprised by what she'd heard as well as how friendly Draco and Heir Potter were. As far as she was aware they had putted heads during the start of first year.

"Oh! I need stronger Anti-theft charms on all my pockets. I've found my dorm mates to be a bit light fingered of late" piped up Harry as he remembered.

Draco raised his brow at the request. The standard anti-theft charms were normally more than enough to prevent or discourage would be thieves. Seeing this, Harry elaborated.

"Hermione pilfered my invisibility cloak from my pocket." Harry scowled as he remembered that day, "I don't know how but she bypassed the theft-charm. I had put it in my pocket to sneak into Hogsmeade that morning, only to find it missing from my pocket that afternoon."

"Did you find it?"

Harry nodded "under my pillow the next morning after breakfast. A place I don't keep any of my belongings let alone the fact it wasn't there the night before when I went gone to sleep."

Draco's eyes narrowed as he tried to remember a change in the pairs behavior, "Did you confront them?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't want to confront them until I know what they were up to. I didn't want to tip them off or show my hand too early."

Draco scowled, "I guess you're right." It made enough sense anyway for Potter. "What are you out shopping for?"

Harry shrugged, "Mostly equipment and the odd knick knack. I needed to bring my clothes to Mia anyway. You?"

"I'm having my formal robes made for the Summer and Winter balls."

Harry raised a brow, "I know for a fact one of those balls is during school hours. If not both of them" he couldn't remember their exact dates, but he remembered Draco mentioning they were on the eve of the Winter and Summer solstices.

Draco smirked, "Heirs have special permission to leave to attend the balls."

Harry just shrugged, "No skin off my back. I wouldn't be able to go even if l was able with Dumbles breathing down my back all year."

"Heir Potter"

Turning from his perch on Draco, Harry came face to face with his aunt. "Yes Mrs Malfoy?"

"Cissa dear. I insist." Demanded Narcissa as she watched the boy she should have been given to raise, "how are you?"

Harry's head tilted in thought, "It would depend on who you ask Aunt Cissa."

"I am asking you Heir Potter"

"Harry, please." He remembered when she called him Heir Potter again that as an aristocrat they weren't allowed to call each other familiarly without given permission. "I am as well as I can be given my current situation."

Narcissa's brow rose, almost identical to her sons, "Situation?"

Harry shrugged, making Narcissa want to send a stinging hex his way, just as she had taught Draco to use his words and manners. "I live with abusive muggles. Unless they and Dumbles suddenly drop dead, I'm not out of the woods so to speak. But I'm managing. How have you been?"

Narcissa was speechless. Abused?

"Harry, I'll need you to leave your clothes with me for a few days while I make some magical altercations." Commented Mia as she emerged unhappily from her workroom. Interrupting what could have been a potentially disastrous conversation.

"That's fine" answered Harry as he faced Mia, "I'll come pick them up when I'm in Whimsic Alley next. Owls won't reach me where I am. "

Saying his goodbyes Harry left, his clothes now in Mia's capable hands.

Wondering the street, Harry popped into Diagon to Slug & Jiggers Apothecary where Hogwarts students usually buy their potion ingredients. The potions ingredients and equipment found there was subpar compared to the ones found in Whimsic and Knockturn. A true Potions Master wouldn't bother with the place, but he was still learning and didn't see the need to pay so much when the potions he made were unlikely to be used and likely to explode during the school year. Leaving with enough ingredients to make 10 batches of each first to seventh year potion with extra ingredients and equipment for fourth year, Harry also made sure to stock up on potion vials and buy more of the beauty potion in its highest available concentration.

Harry realized he really should get a trunk specifically for his potion ingredients, considering the volatile reactions some of these ingredients had with each other. He just needed to find out what was required before he purchased it. Harry believed it was better to buy something once than have to buy it again and waste money when you found you were missing something.

Leaving the Apothecary, Harry made a beeline straight for Scribbulus Writing Instruments.

Compared to blank muggle books, their magical counterparts were a lot more expensive. This was because of the negative reaction muggle made items had to magic. All paper and parchment had to be made by hand or through magical means. From the incidents he'd heard some muggleborn Ravenclaws had when using muggle stationary, he knew he didn't want to be on the receiving end of the muggle/magical items friction.

Picking up a few self-refilling blue, black and red inks. Harry went to look at the enchanted quills, Harry was surprised at some of the functions some had. Really, who needed a quill that caused anything written with it to float off the page in pink smoke? Selecting a few self-noting, copying and thought-noting quill from the self along with his small mountain of sugar and normal quills, Harry moved on to grab a few never ending roles of parchment and some more blank magical books. Having filled a number of the ones he'd bought last time.

Entering TerrorTours after his stop at the stationary store, Harry collected a travel guild for Japan, Canada, Russia and Australia. As they were the countries he knew he would need to visit for business. Hesitating at the door as he was about to leave, Harry couldn't resist the temptation and ended up buying a guild to Germany as well. He couldn't remember the name, but he knew the palace he had dreamed of visiting as a child was located somewhere in Germany. Catching glimpses of its beauty on the tv as he was cooking that day.

Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, a miscellaneous equipment shop and one of Harry's last stops before work. Harry was sad to say he didn't recognize most of the equipment here. He was eyeing an odd box before reading the label again when the saleswomen approached him.

"Who normally buys these?" asked Harry as he eyed the fridge/cupboard thing.

"Ministry workers mainly, as well as the odd student or businessman." Replied the employee happily. "They like the convenience of a ready meal that can easily be heated."

"How's it work?" it sounded like a Muggle microwave to him. Maybe the inventor was a Muggleborn?

"After placing the food you want to heat inside, you place your hand over this rune array here" the saleswomen indicated to a small rune circle on top of the box, "The device will siphon a little bit of your magic in order to heat the food."

"Will it set off the trace?" the thing sounded useful, but not very if it could get him expelled.

The women shook her head, "No. as there is no magic intent outside of the box the trace wards won't register if you use the heating box."

Buying enough premade meals to last a year after purchasing the 'Heating' and storage boxes, Harry left the store with a bounce in his step at the prospect of not going hungry this or the next summer.

Stepping into the Muggle world after picking up his new trunk, Harry made his way to the local Library for his shift.

0-0

Setting the table a few weeks later on his sadly mandatory day off, Harry was surprised at the invitation he received.

"Boy! Come eat at the table."

Being a stick she didn't have the fat reserves her fat husband and son had to fall back on as the potion took effect. So while her skin glowed without blemish and her lips were now full and red, she had no fat to speak of. Looking much like those muggle anorexic models.

Eyes widening in surprise, Harry rushed to comply, even as he secretly felt amusement seeing as Petunia made him a plate with a bit of everything.

Smart woman.

Sitting at the table, Harry waited for permission to eat before he did so. Not hesitating to eat anything on his plate, even as he paced himself due to what his relatives expected of a once more small stomach. Little did they know about the wonders of the magical storage and heating contraption.

Too bad for her the only effect the potion would have on him was make him look even more girly and give him flawless skin. Even then he'd have to have a bit of it every night for it to even be noticeable in the dosages he was feeling them during the summer.

It would look too suspicious if they died while he was in the house.

"Boy." Looking up to look wearily at his scowling Aunt, Harry carefully schooled his face to the appropriate levels of fear and gratefulness the Dursley's expected in this situation "Go to your room."

With a quietly uttered thank you Harry quickly made his way to his room, waiting until he was behind the safety of the door before letting his smirk show.

Taking a few photo's with his new box camera, Harry attached the photos with his letter before sending it off with Hedwig. With Petunia suspicious he needed a backup plan just in case she tried anything.

0-Malfoy Manor-0

Reading his favorite potions tomb, Draco was surprised when Potter's owl flew through the library window. Detaching the missive, Hedwig soon flew off back to her master.

Dear Draco,

How has your summer been? I enjoyed our chats during school and was wondering if we could exchange letters over the summer? The Muggles have been running me ragged of late.

The muggles have been particularly determined this summer to stamp the magic out of me. Should I perish in their attempts, please make sure Dumbledore can't sweep my death under the rug by claiming it was an accident or Death Eaters.

I've attached a number of muggle photographs as proof should you need it.

Kind Regards,

Heir of the Most Noble House Potter and Black

Hadrian James Potter-Black

Looking curiously at the photo's Potter had sent Draco paled; Harry had attached a long view of himself in only his knickers covered in bruises of various colours, shapes and sized, as well as close up photos of each bruise with notes on the back of their location and what caused them.

There were a lot.

He hadn't thought it was this bad; he'd thought Harry had just been exaggerating like Uncle Sev tended to do!

Little did Draco realize that he'd fallen for Dumbledore's silent propaganda from second year.

Striding to his father's office, Draco was halfway there before he realized it probably wasn't the best idea right now considering Potter had outsmarted his Father during second year with the elf. Pivoting, Draco instead headed for his mother's drawing room. Knocking, Draco waited until he was granted entrance. It was a formality, but one he used for incase his mother was entertaining someone from her social circles.

"What is it Dragon darling?" inquired Narcissa as she paused in her knitting of a baby blue scarf; having taken up the hobby when Draco was just a little baby.

Draco hesitated only a moment before silently showing her the pictures.

Narcissa gasped when she saw the pictures of a tired and bruised Harry. Looking at her son wide eyed, he just thrust the letter at her. Reading it numbly, Narcissa had to sit back down. Severus had just told her Harry was perfectly fine and happy with the muggles when she pestered him about it Christmas every year and the week after she had seen the boy in Whimsic.

Did he know?

Standing numbly, Narcissa crushed Draco to herself as she shook with suppressed sobs; which is how Lucius found the pair once a distressed elf had fetched him.

0-Summer School-0

This summer Harry took a lot of muggle courses alongside his summer job. He still wanted to keep up with his muggle education, but knew his availability would be too sporadic for a one on one course.

With Griptide's help, Harry had been able to set up taking his muggle courses by distance education. He just had to mail his work to Griptide, who forwarded it onto the muggle teachers and vice versa. Griptide also had told him to learn a language other than English last summer and had suggested Japanese.

Standing in front of the school, Harry sighed.

While there were earrings and spells that could give the same effect of someone who had learned the language or been born a native, it wasn't a real reliable substitution for actually having learned the language itself and nor was it fool proof. Not to mention it could cause brain damage as your mind tried to adapt to the differences in native language.

Entering, Harry dreaded the headache that awaited him, but knew it had to be done.

Going through the now familiar process of confirming his administration, Harry collected his workbooks before making his way to the classroom.

As the introductory lesson commenced, Harry learned the characters lining each side of the walls were called Hiragana, Katakana and Romaji. The Kanji would be covered once they had finished with the basics and were at the 'advanced' stage of the course.

This was going to suck even if it was going to be useful in the future.

Four weeks later Harry returned to Hogwarts.

-0-4th Year-0-

laying curled in his favorite armchair by the fire in the library, the book on the armrest red 'Basic Elemental' he knew the ministry classified elemental magic as Grey, but he wasn't too worried considering not many knew and the book only contained the basics. Draco had been practically stalking him since school returned and he needed a break.

To cast, grip your wand firmly, concentrate on the vision of fire, swish your wand in a backwards C string from the bottom, and say the word 'Fotia' with your will behind the word and intent to control the fire strong.

Closing his eyes in concentration, Harry used his hand instead of his wand for the wand movements, while still imagining it was a wand as he didn't want the others in the library to see, whispering Fotia firmly when he was ready and with the image of fire leaving his 'wand' in mind Harry felt his magic fluctuate.

Fire ignited on the castle stone on the opposite wall, startling Harry, before extinguishing quickly when it realized there was nothing to burn.

Looking at his wandless hand, Harry smiled.

Writing what he had done in the margin of his journal, Harry continued onwards with his copying.

"Potter"

Startled, Harry looked up into the annoyed face of one Draco Malfoy.

"Hey Dray"

Draco's scowl deepened, "Don't 'Hey Dray' me. You're late for our lesson!"

Harry's head tilted in confusion even as Draco dragged him from the room.

"Back straight Potter!"

Straightening his spine, Harry loosened his shoulders as he tried to maintain the correct posture for as long as he could as Draco circled him.

"Why is posture so important?" he didn't understand what the big deal was. It's not as if good posture could help him.

Draco glanced at him before shifting his gaze back to Harry's posture, "Old money will be able to tell just by the way you hold yourself how easy it'll be to walk all over you." Bending Harry -who had started to slouch again- back into position Draco sighed, "It'll also help you when you try to learn different duelling styles. For example, I rely on underhanded curses and potions during a duel, so I need a straight but flexible posture to duel. While Uncle Sev relies more heavily on hexes and defensive shields."

"What am I?" inquired Harry curiously as he tried to ignore his aching core muscles and shoulders.

Draco thought for a moment to their past duels -those Harry had actually participated in anyway-, "Area and Effect" nodding at his deduction, Draco tried getting Harry to keep the posture as he walked. The bloody prat wouldn't stop slouching!

"What's that?"

"It means you use the terrain to your advantage in order to manipulate a win out of your opponent." It meant a bit more than that, but the explanation would do for now while Potter was learning the basics.

"I still don't see how posture helps in a duel."

"There's a technique called 'flinging' that would be awesome to learn, but you need good Duelling posture in order to accomplish it. It's a technique used in wandless duels where you 'fling' spells at your opponent rather than waste time casting with a wand. Masters can even fling two different spells at the same time!" ever since he had first seen the technique performed at the duelling championship his mother had taken him to Draco had wanted to learn the technique. Returning to the conjured sofa, Draco grabbed the book he had left behind when he had corrected Harry's posture.

"Have you ever thought about visiting a Mind Healer?" inquired Draco as he reclined back into the sofa nervously, lifting a potions text to his lips to occupy his hands.

"No. why?" Harry had an idea to where this was heading and didn't like it; he didn't want anyone messing around with his head. Hermione had done enough of that and done more damage than good. Though that could have been done on purpose to purposely to break him.

"Just thought it might help."

Harry's eye twitched, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Draco shrugged, "I know from father that when tortured by the light side, the death eater needs to see a mind healer for at least two sessions before the Dark Lord would let them back into the field." In reality he had heard it from Blaise, who had heard it from his mother. The women knew the Dark Lord wasn't permanently gone and wanted Blasé to have all the facts in advance to make an informed choice, though that could just be her paranoia as a Water Seer. While not as strange as a Wind Seer, they still tended to be quirky to a degree.

Now Harry was confused, "but I haven't been tortured?" it sounded like an odd thing for a Dark Lord to do; looking after his followers that is.

"Abuse is a form of torture. Whether physiological or physical." quoted Draco, as he pretended to read his potions text. After Harry had sent that letter, he'd asked Blaise about it and done some research. So he knew Harry's reaction right now was normal, and that he shouldn't push the issue too hard.

"Just think about it."

Harry sighed, "Okay" while he knew it might be a good idea, he didn't want anyone telling him that in order to move on he had to forgive or let go like Dumbledore had told him during first year, when he'd told him about the abuse. He knew that was just a load of crock idiots tried to sprout to sound smart or wise. Pulling out a book on sensing magic, Harry was quickly absorbed into the familiar pattern of reading and marking the pages he needed to copy. He would set his new quill to the task when he retired for the night after the dumb champions were selected.

0-CUP-0

Waiting for the feast to end with half an ear as he tried to work out how to mix dragon scales and vampire venom without the pair exploding, when Dumbles didn't say anything after a long pause Harry looked up from his book. Seeing Dumbledore frown Harry's stomach sank; He knew Dumbledore only showed his emotions so openly when he was manipulating someone.

"The second champion for Hogwarts is, Harry Potter!"

Coming out of his shock after a moment, Harry was confused. "I didn't enter myself in the tournament though." In the silence of the great hall, Harry's statement carried.

It was obvious they didn't believe him, as they started telling him just that.

Even members of his own house. The only house that was silent was Slytherin.

Harry was now pissed. Standing and holding his wand before him, Harry glared viciously at the populous of Hogwarts and visitors, particularly the members of his own house who should have known better.

"I, Hadrian James Potter, did not knowingly enter myself into the Tri-Wizard Tournament, nor do I have knowledge at this present time who did. So Mote It Be!" casting a simple colour changing spell on the house table to Slytherin green after the glow of the oath had faded, Harry sat angrily as silence reigned supreme in the hall. Silently vowing to ignore everyone except for Dray and Luna for the rest of his time at Hogwarts.

The papers had a field day.

Harry had refused to go to where the other champions were waiting. He knew he would have to compete because of the cups binding magic, but that didn't mean he had to make it easy for them or Dumbledore.

He was being backed into a corner and he didn't like it.

The other champions felt sorry for him because of his age. He knew they would have thought differently if not for the oath. He didn't trust them because of this.

Now, instead of the papers attacking him, they were attacking Dumbledore and the tournament officials; riling up the public with concerns for the tournament's security and safety. Adding a knock to the idea that Dumbledore was incompetent as he couldn't even cast an age line properly.

0-1st Task-0

Harry was fuming. He thought it was wrong to distress a mother -any mother- by threatening her young just for a mere game. If Draco hadn't used his connections, Harry wouldn't have even know he was going to face a dragon, while Luna had informed him it was going to be the horntail in her own way.

Taking a deep breath, Harry hoped Griptide's suggestion worked. As it posed the least amount of risk of him or her young being injured.

Stepping through the flaps to the stadium beyond, Harry kept his wand in his pocket as he spotted the mother. He knew enough wandless that he could buy time if he needed too, but he didn't want to associate himself with the ministry or the tamers by waving a stick about.

S-Great Mother! May I approach your nest?-S Harry waited as the Horntail dragons head turn to him in agitation from all the different magical aura's surrounding her nest.

D-Serpent-Speaker! Why do you approach my nest?-D

Harry bowed low

S-The humans have placed a Gone egg within your nest-S declared Harry,according to the Dragon Rider scroll, a Gone egg was either infertile, fake, or the young had died before hatching.

The dragon turned to look immediately at her nest, she felt magic from all her eggs which contradicted the two-leggers statement, but despite this, she knew to take the claim seriously for she felt no falsehoods from him.

D-What nestling do you believe Gone?-D

S-The egg the colour of Lord Helios armor.-S Harry pointed to the Golden egg among the rest of the green eggs, S-the other humans want me to retrieve it.-S

Eyeing the egg the two-legger pointed to that was indeed coloured like the gods scales, she had to admit the magic surrounding the egg was much weaker than normal compared to her other eggs. Sighing -and consequently letting out smoke that excited the crowed- the Great Mother nudged the Gone egg away from her nest and towards the human nestling. There wasn't enough magic to sustain growth, let alone a hatching.

Watching sadly as he bowed to her once more before taking the Gone egg from her sight, she curled more firmly around her remaining eggs she ignored him while he left her presence.

0-0

Collapsing once he left the arena and Pomfrey's care, Harry took steady breaths to calm his nerves as the adrenaline receded from his system.

Examining the egg more closely now that he was alone, Harry read the runic arrays inscribed into the eggs golden lacework. If not for his hobby, he wouldn't have noticed the hidden runes in the eggs ornate design. Harry frowned as he eyed one particular rune array; someone had sloppily deactivated a water array. Why would someone need a water barrier to appear?

Taking the egg to the showers, Harry summoned a bucket before filling it with water, placing the egg inside before opening it.

~Come seek us where our voices sound~

~We cannot sing above the ground~

~An hour long you'll have to look~

~To discover what we took~

Harry blinked. What were they going to take? How would they know what to take? And how were they going to take it?

He knew of at least three demons -thanks to the Goblins- that met this description and water equipment, but he couldn't see the ministry asking demons for help let alone having them pay attention long enough to hear out the idiots. Maybe Mermaids? They were the next likely creature and more easily controlled in the ministries view. He knew there was a freshwater colony in the Black Lake thanks to Hogwarts a History.

He knew Mermaids were happy to be left alone so long as you didn't enter their waters thanks to Remus, but why Mermaids when the last task was Dragons?

There had to be more to this then it seemed.

What Harry didn't fully comprehend, was that the tri-Wizard Tournament was originally a war game between three factions and not schools.

The first task tested the champion's ability to gather information, the second their power of deduction, while the third tested their spell range and sense of magical direction. When thought of in the original terms the tournament was devised under the tasks order and requirements made sense.

The egg task was designed that it normally took at least two months for a champion to figure it out through their own intelligence gathering rather than them being informed.

Keeping to himself the next day, Harry went to the library when free period started. Gathering his books quickly, Harry moved into the Ravenclaw territory of the library, which was conveniently right beside Slytherin territory.

Opening Hogwarts A History to the section dedicated to the history of the Lake, Harry found that the Lake was rumored to house a type of fresh water merpeople native to the colder climates.

He was immensely pleased to hear they were mostly herbivores who fed on seaweed and kelp.

Opening a book on marine magical creatures, Harry made sure to find out the weaknesses and strengths of the merpeople first before looking into their culture and language.

Opening the book on Occlumency for Lords, Harry just wanted to sleep. Thanks to the heirs book of the series he no longer had odd dreams, but that didn't mean he could stop now. The Heirs book had many warnings about Legilimency practitioners, but then again Heirs are the weakest link to a Clan; they have the Lords privy but lack the ability to protect themselves like the lord holds.

No one can take away the knowledge you have gained. Not even obliviate can succeed in this endeavor. It may erase the memory of how you first learned it, but once knowledge enters the Well Of Knowledge it will stay there until it is degraded by time.

Should another attempt to obliviate Knowledge on how to perform a task there is no chance of the information being erased, but should they attempt to erase a memory it will be erased.

In order to counteract the obliviate charm a practitioner of Occlumency is advised to keep two copies of their memories. One set easily found while another well hidden.

Harry didn't know whether he wanted to weep or sigh. While he couldn't say he was a master at Occlumency just yet he knew he was much better at Legilimency and just needed to work on solidifying his Occlumency shields with more magic.

This book just added more work to add to his pile.

2nd Task

Standing on the platform overlooking the lake, Harry held his breath and used the earing Griptide had given him to morph until he had gills and strong fins. He couldn't swim thanks to the muggles, but with magic he didn't need to worry too much about drowning.

Diving in when the whistle blew with the other competitors, Harry used a locator charm to find the merpeoples main temple. He suspected if he had just tried to find whatever was taken the spell wouldn't have worked.

He would have been right.

Swimming past the Temple of the Warrior Goddess of Life and Aquiculture Harry followed the mersong until he spotted the hostages tied with seaweed, on what he recognized from pictures as the speakers alter. Harry knew immediately who his hostage was.

They had taken Hedwig

Untying his precious friend, Harry cradled her in his arms while he rose as quickly as he could for the surface. Breaking the surface Harry quickly lifted Hedwig above his head to keep her from inhaling anymore water.

Directing his magic to form a layer over his body, Harry used the layer to negate the resistance on his body like a wetsuit would while he used the Aguamenti charm to propel him and Hedwig to shore.

3rd Task

Running for the cup he could see ahead, Harry spotted Cedric just as he grabbed the Cup and was portkeyed away.

With the cup claimed the hedges collapsed, revealing all manner of magical creatures and spells he was happy not to have faced. The croud erupted in cheers but soon quieted when they realized he wasn't holding the cup

Bagman and the other Ministry officials soon came running over when they realized two facts.

"Where's the cup and the other competitor?"

Harry shrugged, "Wherever you set the portkey to take him I guess"

"Portkey?"

Harry frowned, "the only method of transport I know of that requires the wizard to touch an object is a portkey. When Cedric touched the cup he disappeared and the maze fell."

After a lot of arguments among the officials and judges, Cedric Diggory was declared the winner along with Harry.

Contacting Griptide, Harry organized an all-expenses paid trip to Russia for the Dursley family in the guise of petunia having won a coupon competition. The flight he'd booked was scheduled to leave England three days after break started, the day just before his exams were scheduled to take place.

In order for everything to go smoothly, he needed to procure liquid Imperius. He knew the potion existed thanks to one of his ancestors diaries, but he needed to locate a supplier or find the brewing instructions.

He needed a 100% guarantee that the Dursley's would leave him behind on his own to go to Russia.

Looking through the list of books and scrolls Griptide had finished cataloging from his vault, Harry focused on the list of books around and before the life of William Charles Potter, focusing primarily on the healer and potion texts, considering the man was a Master Healer on top of his duties as a Lord.

Listing the books he found to send the list to Griptide, along with a note to try and procure and old tombs he didn't already have, Harry paused as a thought occurred to him.

Hogwarts was pretty old.

Harry bet there were hundreds of unused rooms in the castle. Including classrooms and small bedrooms that would contain bookshelves; which would contain books.

According to the version of Hogwarts a History from 70 years ago, Hogwarts used to be full to capacity and house Master's and apprentices from every discipline. It was why Hogwarts was so big; because of all the additions that had been made over the years in order to accommodate everyone. Judging from the amount of dust in most of the rooms he'd been in, he doubted they'd been touched in years since they were last used.

Leaving the dorms with his messenger bag in toe, Harry cast the disillusionment charm as he made his way to Ravenclaw territory. Going to the top of the first tower he was starting in, Harry chose the first room in front of him to start.

Casting wide range cleaning charms such as Scourgify and Tergeo, Harry searched for books, scrolls and any magical items he could find. Going from tower to tower, Harry raided every room he found as he worked his way through each tower.

When he reached his fifth tower, Harry finally needed to return to his dorms in order to deposit his haul. As soon as he finished with Ravenclaw territory, he'd move on to Slytherin and Hufflepuff until finally finishing with Gryffindor's territories at the end of the year.

As the year went on and Draco and Harry spoke to one another more and more as they met to study, Harry noticed he kept mostly to Draco, Blaise and Theo as he went to the library more and more to research for the second task and third tasks.

By the end of the year, the three had grown close enough to agree to exchange correspondence over the holidays. Something not usually done between those of different houses.

Harry Potter Shares Victory With Cedric Diggory

In a shocking turn of events Tournament Champion for Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory, has been declared MIA during the third task of the tournament.

Tournament officials have searched high and low for the boy but have been unable to find a trace of him after he touched the tournament cup. Sources inform me the Goblet of Fire has returned to its place in Gringotts Vault 103, but the question remains; where is Cedric Diggory?

In response to Cedric's disappearance and Harry Potter's testimony as well as the eye witness accounts from spectators of the third task, both boys were declared the winners of the tournament as it cannot be 10% confirmed Cedric did indeed touch the Goblet before the portkey activated.

Cedric Diggory's disappearance and Harry Potter's oath at the start of the year have raised very important questions about the Ministry and Hogwarts staff competency in regards to Tournament saftley. The Tournament was reinstated on the premises that with the current advancements of Modern British wizards and administrative supervision the safety of the champions would be assured.

But with one champion entered against his will, another presumed dead and the third and forth champions in the Healers tender care receiving treatment for the unforgivables, we're all left wondering just what went wrong?

All these incidents happened on Hogwarts grounds along with the chamber of Secrets being opened just two years prior. Just how safe are our children kept at that school?

Rita Skeeter

Portkey Safely pg 8

Goblet of Fire Tournament pg 10-13

Cedric Diggory pg 14-15

Harry Potter pg 15-19

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Edited: 31/12/15